


An Ending Up to Scratch

by nonky



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Post-Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28486527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: “Excuse me, is this seat taken?”Sabrina and Nick see each other again, but my version.
Relationships: Nicholas Scratch/Sabrina Spellman
Comments: 7
Kudos: 102





	An Ending Up to Scratch

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for the end of the series, with a twist to suit my difficulty with the final Nabrina scene.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

The afterlife was only as peaceful as the souls there, even in a private haven for a singular being with claims to celestial, hellish and mortal lives. The sweet hereafter had nothing in particular, but no shortage of anything. The idea of possessing or letting go of anything as inconsequential as a place on a bench was almost forgotten. Sabrina needed a few seconds to process the words as something she wasn’t imagining.

“Nick! Heavens, what are you doing here!?”

He bowed ever so slightly, a little mockery in it but as much devotion in his gaze as Sabrina had ever wished from a boy. Nick looked just the same, and she wondered if her grasp on time had finally escaped her completely. She’d been able to conjure small things in her little pocket of a world. The mortal clock was still ticking, barely past a few decades. Nick should have lived hundreds of years more. 

“I’m here for you, my love.”

She shook her head, standing up quickly. “You mean to visit? Astral projection into the afterlife? I didn’t think it was possible. That must be dangerous.”

If anyone could have managed it, her loved ones would have. Over the decades, Sabrina had become used to being alone. If she gathered her powers over several weeks and concentrated hard she could get a very distant sense of someone she loved. It was a very shallow brush of her immured soul to their living one. The sensation was the vaguest notion of their continued existence. It had to be enough, because wishing for company was unthinkable.

Nick shook his head as well, reaching for her. “No, I’m here for good, to be with you forever.”

Nothing changed in what looked and felt like a room at a quiet gallery, but she shivered as if it was a frozen wasteland ravaged by a blizzard. He shouldn’t have died yet, and certainly not without some sign of it rippling through the realms to protest the injustice. He should have had a long, happy, rich life. He should have moved on from her loss, to love another and perhaps have a family.

Sabrina’s tears were just dripping down her cheeks, her body heaving with the first of her sobs when his hands gripped her by the arms and gave her a little bracing shake. 

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. I’m glad to see that beautiful face again but I like it best with a smile.”

She had to find some way to reverse this. Nick could return to his body and heal himself. Maybe if she poured enough energy into a single message she could call on her Aunties or Ambrose to find Nick and save him. Death could be cheated if his time in the afterlife could be cut short.

“I am so, so glad to see you. I am! But I gave up my life for the world,” Sabrina said forcefully. “I wanted to think of you carrying on, doing the things I know you wanted. You were going to master the dark arts, travel, see other realms. You were supposed to-”

Overwhelmed with panic, she started to think of every spell she’d ever known. She had to pull herself together and summon all the canny instinct of the mystical arts from her upbringing. Aunt Hilda and Zelda would want her to preserve her boyfriend’s life. 

“You do this all the time, Spellman,” he chuckled, letting her pull back but catching her hand gently. “It’s oddly charming how often you reject me utterly.”

She pulled her hand away, offended he was so casual about her grief for his life. It was one thing to have died and watched her double die. The only pleasant thing about leaving everyone else was finding out Sabrina Morningstar had been waiting to merge with her in the afterlife. They had shared memories of their separate experiences, adding a few precious months of life to their short 17 years. It wasn’t exactly a conversation like when they’d lived separately, but the late Queen of Hell could interject opposing views sometimes. A calming wave of concern washed over Sabrina.

‘Maybe Nick has a plan, listen to him, sister.’

‘This can’t be the plan. Death can’t be the plan! Not for him!’

Sabrina Morningstar’s regal disregard sounded in the little scoff inside Sabrina’s mind. ‘So it’s only good enough for you? Hear him, he’s come a long way.’

“Nick, you can’t think I’d want this,” Sabrina told him. “I expected to see you again, but not for a long, long time. I thought it would be one of my Aunties first, and even then I didn’t want it to be soon.”

He shrugged. “I waited long enough. Sabrina, how long do you think it’s been since I’ve seen you?”

She struggled to put a day on it, numbers largely useless once human spans weren’t a question. She’d learned not to count so strictly, finding contentment in eventualities. Her loved ones were not gods and would join her in their own individual times.

“I set a clock. It’s been forty or so years but that’s nothing to what you could have had.”

Sabrina’s gesture brought the mortal clock to the surface of her haven, sitting neatly on the bench. The gleaming white porcelain finish smudged as Nick lifted it, moving the hands carelessly with his fingertip. 

“Baby, a mortal clock can’t keep good time in an immortal place. It’s been several lifetimes. I did my best with them. I learned and I traveled. I dated a bit, once I was ready. I never got over you. I decided I was tired of trying,” Nick said calmly. “Don’t make me go another 200 years without you, Sabrina.”

It didn’t make sense he could look just the same. The clock might be wrong, but Nick was as youthful as the moment they’d said goodbye.

“You shouldn’t shortchange your life,” she said softly. “Just because you missed me. Or just because I missed you.”

“I’m a disgraceful old lecher of a warlock with 204 years on you, Spellman,” he told her tenderly. “I’m just lucky this place let me choose my younger self so you don’t have to suffer my wrinkled ass. I lived, Sabrina, I promise. I took every opportunity, and a lot of it was really good. But you’re wonderful, and you’re here. So let me cradle rob you, okay?”

She should argue more. She should stomp and scream and demand he march himself back to Earth and live another millenia. She wanted to hold him and get used to his arms again.

“Are you sure? I mean, you had to die. How did that happen?”

Nick looked odd for a moment, and cleared his throat. “I, uh, bought a Harley,” he said. “It turns out you can’t really drive a motorcycle on a ski trip. I think I zipped right off the side of the mountain like a cartoon character.”

It was awful, but absurd. He quirked a smile and Sabrina giggled. It was such a relief to know his death hadn’t been one of despair and deliberate action. He’d always be her bad boy with a sweet nature, and he’d never been one to shy from risks.

“That’s so - You’re so reckless. No wonder you died!”

“I need you to save me from my unseemly foibles,” Nick told her sincerely. “I’ve been very careless with myself without you. I need a lot of love to make up for it. Do you have eternity free, Spellman?”

It wasn’t wrong to be happy to see him again. She was crying a little, but it was bittersweet. Sabrina cupped his face and kissed him. 

“I have a few minutes,” she teased. “Hello Nicholas Scratch. Welcome to the sweet hereafter.”

They sat down, pushing her useless clock away. Nick glanced around, taking in the quiet surroundings. 

“Thank you. Hey, do we have room for a billiards table, over there?”

Sabrina rolled her eyes and kissed him again. She had her Nick back, and her peaceful infinity was bound to be more eventful. She couldn’t wait.


End file.
